Album Review – Jesse Lovelock and the Velvet Voices

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Classic Country (#510.1) and Countrypolitan (#510.5) on the Country DDS.

If you come to country music to be spirited away to a much more simple and understandable era of human existence that’s free from the artificial—intelligent or otherwise—Jesse Lovelock and the Velvet Voices offer you free admission to a time portal that will take to immediately back to a much more inviting moment when the world and the way we expressed ourselves was decidedly more unadulterated.

For old school fans of classic country, the more boldly and thoroughly that you can embrace the past, the more potent and desirable the experience. It was Hank Williams III who once said that the older you sound, the more punk you’re being. If that’s the case, it doesn’t get more punk than Jesse Lovelock, because it’s perhaps impossible to sound any older than what is illustrated in these 14 songs.

It’s not just the songwriting style, the singing, and the instrumentation that constitute stellar reenactments of ’50s and ’60s country styles, yet in completely original compositions. It’s the distressed patina that Lovelock impresses upon these recordings that give you the experience of listening on an old 78 rpm or an AM radio back in the post War era. Though it might sound too old and hazy for ears accustomed to the pristine and saccharine sounds of the modern era, for those old soul classic country fans out there craving this stuff, the experience will be mesmerizing and immersive.

It’s not completely uncommon to hear a new album made to sound old in the throwback country realm. What’s unprecedented is to hear an album that accomplishes this feat so completely. The recording process and its results comprise their own bold artistic expression to go along with the gifted writing, and at times, inspired vocal performances by Lovelock, including on the opening track “Misty Blue,” all the way through to the 13th track “She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye.”

The Golden Era of country music is alive once again in the voice and the vision that Jesse Lovelock and his co-conspirators brought to this album. Despite the mono signals and sepia tones (or perhaps because of them), the listening experience is quite cinematic, awakening silver screen panoramas in your imagination, and waves of nostalgia.



When Jake Worthington heard this record, he remarked, “Hoss this is game changing, for our genre. This is pure sonic super nova…. Your voice is captured in a way as if it couldn’t be any bigger!!! Way to go my friend! Long live country music.”

But Jake Worthington is one of the few who’ve heard it. This album won’t come through the recommendations on Spotify or Apple Music. You won’t hear it played on SiriusXM. In fact, at the moment, the only place it exists is a private Soundcloud player on Jesse Lovelock’s account as a “leaked” copy. Perhaps to keep the audience and the listening experience pure, he’s so far refused to distribute this album widely, instead opting for only those initiated with the Soundcloud link to listen.

Don’t take this to mean that every effort wasn’t expended to bring Jesse Lovelock’s vision to life. Singers Ashley Rose and Sandy Santa Cruz help enliven the album with choral harmonies. It’s clear that a painstaking effort was made to make the album both accurate to era, yet still original in scope. Is this still a niche experience? Of course. By the end of the 14 songs, can it come across a little “one note” for those whose appetite for this type of throwback country is fleeting? Sure. But nonetheless, Jesse Lovelock and the Velvet Voices feels like a creative feat of uncommon success.

Don’t be surprised if this album does end up on the DSPs eventually, along with vinyl copies and other goodies. But those who take the time to dig for the best in music are handsomely rewarded via the experience of this album, and before the rest of the world and the music business get their opportunity to get their greasy mandibles on it.

8.3/10

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To listen to Jesse Lovelock and the Velvet Voices on SoundCloud, CLICK HERE.

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